


Fox of Choice

by DevinePhoenix



Series: Bleach Youkai AU [2]
Category: Bleach
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Creatures & Monsters, Gen, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Nogitsune!Gin, Youkai, Youkai racism, fox!Gin, kitsune!Gin, kitsunegeddon, no beta we die like men, nobody likes Nogitsunes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-21
Updated: 2018-09-21
Packaged: 2019-07-15 07:55:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16058825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DevinePhoenix/pseuds/DevinePhoenix
Summary: Gin hadn't wanted to be a Nogitsune.





	Fox of Choice

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to do a side piece on how Nogitsunes were treated in my Bleach Youkai AU so here we are.

Gin wasn’t born a Nogitsune and he hadn’t wanted to be one.

 

(Who would want to be one anyway, with the bad reputation they have?)

 

As a starving brat of Rukongai, he had wanted to be an Inari fox. They were revered, trusted and most importantly to him, provided with a living environment within Inari Shrines. A roof over his head and as much food as he could eat, that was his ideal life. It was the same as joining the Gotei 13, just without the military and the expectation for you to risk your life and still be at the whims of others. An Inari-sworn kitsune was free in ways that Shinigami weren’t but still given the same perks.

 

There was no benefit in being a Nogitsune. Sure, they could do whatever they wanted and were free of duty and responsibility, but no one trusted them. You were never certain if they were lying or weaving a trick. They had better luck living in Seireitei, where they could find clanship among the Shiba but they were still viewed in a negative and suspicious light. Most kitsune who chose to be field foxes instead of _zenko_ , good foxes, would much rather ravage the defenseless rukongai with their chaos.

 

The ones who travelled to join the Shiba were the older and wiser Nogitsune who grew tired of the chaos of their youth, five tails and above looking to settle down and maybe have some kits. The mature Nogitsune who decided to join the Gotei thirteen were the ones that usually had a taste of battle that was not easily forgotten. They fit in easily with the eleventh though, and were oddly, the least discriminated in that division. Partly because their form of trickery was less illusions and pranks and more combat strategy and deception, something that was seen as very useful.  

 

(The second division only allowed illusion specialized Nogitsune, and only up to the sixth tail)

 

Though there was one Nogitsune that was trusted about all in Seireitei ‘despite’ his nature. He was an old fox, with a full array of tails. Tricky and wily like old foxes are, yet, somehow one of the most trusted Shinigami Captains in Seireitei. His shikai reflected his nature perfectly with its mercurial nature and games.

 

Shunsui Kyouraku was the Soutaicho’s dear student and was the most powerful Kitsune in Soul Society. Despite his lack of swearing to Inari, not a single Shinigami felt threatened by him. Partly due to his laid back, drunkard ways and partly due to his companionship with the Gotei’s sweetheart, Juushiro Ukitake. It was impossible to watch the two of them doting on each other and think Shunsui capable of the chaos and destruction of nogitsune tales.

 

Both kinds of kitsune were good at illusions, especially when young, and able to pull elements to their will, usually fire at first. They used magic differently because of their differing lifestyles.

 

Inari foxes spent their time traveling, granting goodwill and blessings, causing nature to bloom where they walked. Their magic lent itself to creation easily since they carried the blessing of Inari-sama. Blessed messenger foxes usually had some sort of scarlet marking on their primary tail as proof of their vow.

 

Nogitsune had no such patron, they wandered and tricked and fought off anything stupid enough to challenge them. Destructive elements came easily to them to lend to their chaos. They were _very_ good at combat magic, in the same way the heavenly messengers were _very_ good at movement magic.

 

Gin liked growing plants. He liked giving Rangiku the persimmons from the wild trees he encouraged to bear fruit. He liked being able to give her tiny protective blessings to keep her safe in the rough environment of Rukongai. She may have been a Nekomata and older than him, but she was too young to perform much of the shapeshifting her kind were known for. Her only reliable form was that of a small ginger cat which, while cute, wasn’t the best defense. Since it was only the one form, suspicious vendors or lowlives eventually would learn to spot her. He was too young for the powerful kitsune magics but what little he did know was at a higher level than the simple tricks she struggled with.

 

She was better at distracting, with her flame-like hair and adorable little girl act, and he was the better thief with his illusions and speed. They made a good team but there was always the danger of getting caught. Thankfully, the few times they had gotten spotted, they had managed to get away. Depending on who caught them they could end up in jail or more likely, in a brothel, like hundreds of other rukongai rats before them.

 

If he went to a temple and swore himself into service, he was sure he could keep her safe. He had carefully listened to gossip and news before making his decision, and it wasn’t unheard of for other youkai to live in the shrines with the Inari Kitsune. A good route was mapped to the nearest Inari Shrine, a good long travel away but not as far as Seireitei. They had packed in preparation to travel, a bag full of all the wild fruit they could gather, and a packet of dried meat swiped off the stall of a merchant.

 

He had been feeling at ease for the first time in a long time, secure that he could offer her a better life. A life without the threat of starvation or sickness. A stable, peaceful life.

 

Then Aizen happened.

 

Rangiku lost a sliver of her soul and Gin swore, he _swore_ on his first tail. He had no time to devote to Inari. All his devotion lay to getting revenge for Rangiku. He was going to play the greatest trick that a Nogitsune could. He was going to lie, fool, murder and weasel his way into Aizen’s confidence.

 

 _And then he was going to kill him_.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Being a Shinigami was hard.

 

Not the techniques or the duties. They came easily to him, enough so that he tested out of the academy early out of boredom.

 

The problem with being a Shinigami, was his coworkers.

 

He was eyed with suspicion for being a Nogitsune, constantly suspected of little things going wrong. Misplaced items, spilled ink, little accidents that they immediately turned to him in suspicion. The students of the academy tried to push him around, accused him of cheating. Thankfully none of them had tried to physically harm him, since his two silver tails were a big deterrent. He may have been a Rukon rat, but he was still a Kitsune, technically still a kit. Anyone trying to mess with him would be sternly reprimanded by an instructor at least or bring an older kitsune down on their heads at worst.

 

The human Shinigami clearly disapproved of his entire existence, but in a quiet way. When he finally joined the Gotei 13 it was little things like losing paperwork. They couldn’t do more to inconvenience him since he was a fourth seat but he could see it in their eyes and actions. He didn’t mind being disliked, it endeared him to Aizen and let him finally enter his confidence.

 

When the third seat tried to go a little too far, cold shoulders and insults finally working its way up to attempted murder by inaction, Gin decided that he would be a perfect present to endear himself to Aizen.

 

The blood of the murdered third seat tasted a little like success.

 

Against all odds, Gin liked Hirako-taicho.

 

He was entirely human, but lacked the instinctive fear that others had of him. There were no suspicious glares or unfair shift assignments. He treated him kindly and respectfully in a way he had never experienced before. He took time to spar with the fifth division and didn’t pull his punches when dealing with the new ‘genius’. Gin was almost sorry that Aizen’s plotting needed him out of the way. In his own way, he’d miss the piano-toothed bastard.

 

With Hirako’s own illusion zanpakuto, Gin had learnt a lot from just observing his use and applications of misdirection. He used what he learnt to misdirect Aizen about his Shikai, the speed and straightforwardness of its manifestation implying he wasn’t as tricky as other kitsune. Which was true in some fashion, he liked his mischief as much as any other fox but when it came down to it, he’d rather eliminate threats than toy with them. He made sure to imply to Aizen that he was bad at illusions, more like a mislead Inari fox than a true Nogitsune. He grew things with great joy, laid simple blessings or curses on people and never used his illusions, whether to trick or in battle. When he did use them, it was in subtle ways, sly like how Aizen had unintentionally taught him.

 

He never indicated that he could see through Aizen’s illusions.

 

He had still been a third seat when Aizen had needed him to see through his illusions to carry out a plot. From the first press of his hand against the blade, he had figured out how the loophole worked. It was an anchor to the illusions, Aizen’s null point in the changes he made in the world. Now that he was familiar to how the null point felt, it was almost child’s play to see through the illusions even when he was no longer touching the blade.

 

With Aizen’s greatest defense nullified, he needed only to wait for the right moment.

 

He was still too well-regarded, if he killed him now he’d end up in the maggot’s nest or executed. There was also a sizeable chance Rangiku would share his fate as an ‘accomplice’ because of their known close ties.  

 

No, he had to wait for Aizen to show his hand or these decades of plotting would be worthless. He’d never forgive himself if he died before he returned Rangiku’s soul shard to her.


End file.
